Okay, so how does a band deftly handle transitions between songs while performing live? I mean who counts you in and how do you avoid stalling and looking foolish on stage wondering what's gonna happen next?

Do you have a show coming up? If so go see the stage before the show, so you know how you have to set up, exit, etc.

karmatornado said:

Yes, and our last one was a little awkward. But besides entering and exiting, how best to segue smoothly between songs?

Practice. My old band had segues worked out beforehand. Practice is where it all comes together. Of course, things happen, but we were so tight - again courtesy of rehearsal - that we could improvise on the spot. And as a guitarist, it gave me a chance to get my rocks off

But I've found that the church gigs I play occasionally require the ability to think on one's feet at all times. Sometimes, the pastor calls on us to jam, someone might want to sing, guest choirs show up and we serve as the house band - everything is basically just keeping your eyes and ears open.

oh crap...i moved this to the wrong forum.




my bad!!!!

We tailored our approach according to the audience. If we were playing for a bunch of young people (usually with short attention spans) we would go into a brief transition before going directly into the next song. We would do a whole set without stopping. That was our usual approach, for the most part. Some of our slower songs, though, would have a spoken intro/setup by our lead singer, who was good at working the crowd.

sosgemini said:

I helped ya out.

JesseDezz said:

That's good advice. We really need to practice show flow almost more than the parts themselves. See, we're a chamber group and a piece usually begins with just one or two instruments so we spend a lot of time looking around -- Who starts this one? Who plays the first measure? It's confusing because different instruments start different songs so it's hard to keep track of who counts us in or who sets the beat.

When we had a conductor, he worried about all this and could cue us in. And now we keep getting into arguments about the tempo...

I guess it merits some attention where we all come to consensus about who starts up each song and then write it in our scores. Or hey, we could notate it on the setlist to make sure everyone gets it right at the gig.

CarrieMpls said:

thanks!

Yeah, try and work out as many segues as possible. Also, always make sure you have a standard way of starting a song - eg. drummer clicks in 1,2,1,2,3,4... etc. Whatever it is, makes sure it's the same wherever possible so there's no confusion.

And also, make sure everyone in the band can make clear eye contact with everyone else. Rehearse in the same positions you would stand when your gigging (eg. don't stand around in a circle for rehearsals, set up as if you're all looking out to the audience).

great tips, toejam. Thanks!

based upon my experience of watching bands, and my bloody limited experience with playing in a band:

- Depending on the act, the guitarist feeding back or making some kind of noise effect between songs fills up space, if another member needs to tune up or do something else.

- someone "chatting" to the audience works a lot. a simple "thank you" and all the "great to be here" stuff can work well.

- pretty much everything ToeJam said.

Basically what everyone said. Keeping the counts subtle is a good thing too. INstead of having the drummer click his sticks, maybe have him pump the hi hat a couple times.

Talking to the crowd is good too if you've got some witty banter going on.

But yeah, practice. It's basically rehearsing to make something SOUND spontaneous.

I sent an email to the band suggesting we make the setlist early and focus a rehearsal on show flow. Keeping the counts subtle is an interesting idea. Some of our pieces start with one instrument, so that person can jump in. That seems the easiest way.

guitarslinger44 said:

On our final rehearsal before a show, we would actually do the actual performance, with segues, working the crowd, talking intros - everything. It's all about working the kinks out in rehearsal.

JesseDezz said:

that's a great idea!

we're terrible at this. I keep saying I hate standing around in silence before starting a new song. I wanted to practice 5 songs in a row, for example, rather than just practice one song at a time. It never really got anywhere. And since different people start different songs, I can't just take control.

NDRU said:

It got my band's attention when I told them that an audience member commented that we seemed a bit unprofessional because of it. I sent it by email with clear suggestions how to approach the problem. Another member agreed and had some more suggestions. So we're going to work on it this week.

Since you were THERE, do you have any comments about this issue from our last show?

heartbeatocean said:

well, there was a slightly ragged quality; a lot of moments seemed unscripted. Particularly the singer who was making comments about this or that.

But that worked well with the punk thing, I thought. Actually classical, too. There's typically long pauses between pieces in classical music. I didn't really notice specifically what you're talking about.

Also, we were all sitting and watching you with full attention, so it's not like you were acknowledging applause that wasn't there. With my band, they may or may not be watching us, and if they're not I feel stupid saying "thank you" when nobody's clapping. On the other side, I also hate when the dancers have to wait forever for us to start a new song.

But I think your concern is valid, especially if someone else noticed it. I feel like you have to practice the transitions, as has been mentioned, to complete the show as opposed to just the songs.

I think the best way is that the person, whoever starts the songs, needs to be on it and start the next song while the last one is just ending.

A few longer pauses is fine, but for me the music should really flow from one song to the next.

this may be tougher for you if you're using sheet music. Also I think you should definitely plan some larger pauses when it's musically appropriate, and for water, tuning, etc.

Thanks NDRU. Your comments actually make me feel much more relaxed about the issue. I mean, we are a chamber music group and have to change sheet music etc. I guess I notice it more because we do waste a lot of time in rehearsal figuring out who starts each song and arguing tempo, even though we've done it before.

Our next gig is a birthday party, so the audience situation will probably be much different.

heartbeatocean said:

when we start talking at rehearsal between songs, the drummer will just start to play rolls, completely drowning us all out. very helpful

I didn't see it as a problem, like I said, but it doesn't mean you couldn't arrange your sheet music ahead of time (specially tape/bind it together or whatever so it's not a mess) and spend less time between songs, if you wanted to put on more of a seamless presentation

NDRU said:

I do try to keep my sheet music all neat and orderly. I think typing who starts each song onto the setlist will be helpful.

Who's the leader? Having one (or two) person as a focal point helps a lot. Since I was the co-founder of my band, the keyboard player and I were the leaders/songwriters/organizers/planners. Everyone kinda looked to us for answers when it came to those things. When it came to planning the show, I let him take the lead and it worked out fine.

He was the weakest musician among us, but he was indispensable when it came to those other intangibles. And having him as our main focal point/go-to guy as far as cues/transitions helped things run smoothly.

Now, the personality clashes - that's another story...

heartbeatocean said:

lots of notes and planning will help. I think the holdups come when you don't plan something ahead of time. I have to plan stuff like when I breathe during a song.